Rays to sign free agent 1B James Loney

Nashville, TN-- Pending a physical, the Rays plan on signing first-baseman James Loney to a free agent contract. It will be a 1-year deal, worth $2 million.

Loney finished last season with the Red Sox, after a trade from the Dodgers. That was the Carl Crawford deal.

Loney is a career .282 hitter, with 73 homers in 7 years, and is excellent defensively. And the Rays like his age.

"Loney is at that optimal age, at 28, right at that sweet spot," said Maddon at the Winter Meetings in Nashville. "Where you might consider have underachieved at that point... And then they come to us, and it's the perfect time to get them... This is the age where a lot of potentially really good players who have not arrived there, arrive there."

The signing won't be announced officially, until Loney passes a team physical.